A brand-new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. Currensea Cash Withdrawal…
It has won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (using you an inexpensive method to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good thing.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing current account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You just spend as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is taken from your bank account– simply without the normal 3% cost.
Oh, and is free to obtain, which also helps.
There are likewise some interesting travel benefits if you pick a paid strategy, but the totally free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a company model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and totally free or less expensive than the competitors
add a growing number of features which your existing clients do not truly require or desire
add charges, charges or limitations to the function that made individuals get your item in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will ideally remain there. Monzo, curve and revolut are already in Stage 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Cash Withdrawal
It is a complimentary direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% forex charges, then you don’t require a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which use benefits and charge 0% FX charges are couple of and far in between. The only ‘points and miles’ options which provide a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX costs and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to utilize abroad
you want an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any charges and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little charge beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a simple, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, an extremely basic procedure. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your bank account bank automatically validates that you have adequate cash in your account and authorises the deal.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. adds a 0.5% cost if you have the totally free card. There are no charges if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated spend notification via the app, if you pick to install it.
The money is taken from your current account a few days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I chose to sprinkle out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
Transforming pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is practically to take place (typically in a various language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion charges taking place in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Fortunately over the last few years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other great cards assures big savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
I think the best bit may be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this indicates is you can spend money you have in your existing bank account with less stress over running out of money and the additional step. That does not indicate it is ideal.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, the bad, the awful and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Essential Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, permitting us to make revenue from our Necessary Strategy whilst remaining more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the complimentary amount on all our strategies, complete information can be found on our pricing plans.
Membership costs.
We charge a yearly membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription charge likewise gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we receive a little % of the deal, referred to as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Currensea Cash Withdrawal